
Greg GuestFHI 360 | FHI · Global Health Research
Greg Guest
BA, MA, PhD
About
64
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Introduction
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January 2013 - November 2015
Publications
Publications (64)
Focus groups (FGs) and individual interviews (IDIs) can be conducted in-person or in several different online contexts. We conducted a quasi-experimental study and assessed sharing of sensitive or dissenting information and participant comfort in FGs and IDIs across four modalities: (1) in-person, (2) online video-based, (3) online chat-based (sync...
Data saturation is the most commonly employed concept for estimating sample sizes in qualitative research. Over the past 20 years, scholars using both empirical research and mathematical/statistical models have made significant contributions to the question: How many qualitative interviews are enough? This body of work has advanced the evidence bas...
Internet-based platforms are increasingly used to collect qualitative data. We conducted a quasi-experimental study to explore whether data collection mode affects data content and data collection costs. Participants ( N = 171) were assigned systematically to one of four modes—(1) in-person (control), (2) online video–based, (3) online chat–based,...
Morbidity and mortality rates are alarmingly high among African American men and are influenced by the health-seeking behaviors of this population. This study examined data from 40 focus groups with African American men in Durham, North Carolina, to better understand social and cultural influences on health-seeking behaviors. Data were analyzed usi...
Public health researchers are charged with communicating study findings to appropriate audiences. Dissemination activities typically target the academic research community. However, as participatory research grows, researchers are increasingly exploring innovative dissemination techniques to reach broader audiences, particularly research participan...
Qualitative researchers often have to decide whether to collect data using focus groups or individual interviews. We systematically compare these two methods on their ability to generate two types of information: unique items in a brainstorming task and personally sensitive disclosures. Our study sample consisted of 350 African-American men living...
Few empirical studies exist to guide researchers in determining the number of focus groups necessary for a research study. The analyses described here provide foundational evidence to help researchers in this regard. We conducted a thematic analysis of 40 focus groups on health-seeking behaviors of African American men in Durham, North Carolina. Ou...
Evaluators often use qualitative research methods, yet there is little evidence on the comparative cost-effectiveness of the two most commonly employed qualitative methods—in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus groups (FGs). We performed an inductive thematic analysis of data from 40 IDIs and 40 FGs on the health-seeking behaviors of African American...
Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) using the antiretroviral drug emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Truvada) has been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of HIV acquisition for women at higher risk of infection if taken daily. Understanding when and why women would intentionally stop using an efficacious oral PrEP drug within the cont...
Findings from a survey conducted among women at high risk for HIV in Bondo, Kenya, and Pretoria, South Africa, demonstrated that a substantial proportion would be inclined to reduce their use of other HIV risk-reduction practices if they were taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). To explore the motivations for their anticipated behavior change, w...
Several clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in reducing HIV risk. One concern with introducing PrEP is whether users will engage in riskier sexual behaviors.
We assessed the effect that PrEP may have on sexual risk behaviors by administering a survey to 799 women in Bondo, Kenya, and Pretoria, South Afr...
Long-distance truck drivers have been shown to be a critical population in the spread of HIV in Africa. In 2009, surveys with 385 Ugandan long-distance truck drivers measured concurrency point prevalence with two methods; it ranged from 37.4% (calendar-method) to 50.1% (direct question). The majority (84%) of relationships reported were long-term r...
HIV knowledge is commonly measured in HIV prevention research and program evaluations, but rigorous measurement standards are not always applied. Using item response theory methods, we examined the psychometric functioning of five commonly used HIV knowledge questions in five countries with varying HIV prevalence. We evaluated the internal consiste...
Multiple concurrent partnerships are hypothesized to be important drivers of HIV transmission. Despite the demonstrated importance of relationship type (i.e., wife, girlfriend, casual partner, sex worker) on condom use, research on concurrency has not examined how different combinations of relationship types might affect condom use. We address this...
Context
Gender norms influence unintended pregnancy, maternal health, HIV/AIDS infection, and act as barriers to reproductive health services. The Gender Equitable Men (GEM) scale has been used widely in programs and research in African settings, but it has yet to be statistically validated.
Method
We examined the internal and external validity of...
Scholars have created a variety of typologies to describe and simplify mixed methods research designs. In this article, I review the rationale for using these typologies and discuss some shortcomings of the existing methods of classification. I argue that current systems of classification, although useful for simple and less fluid types of mixed me...
Research suggests that spousal communication and male involvement in decision making can positively influence family-planning use and continuation. However, few existing studies explore the dynamics of this communication and how they factor into family-planning decision making. Building upon a recent evaluation of a theory-based male-involvement in...
"This book provides step-by-step instructions on how to analyze text generated from in-depth interviews and focus groups - i.e., transcripts. The book is primarily designed for research studies with an applied focus, but is also useful for theoretically oriented qualitative research. The book covers all aspects of the qualitative data analysis proc...
CONTEXT: In rural Honduras, contraceptive use remains low and fertility high. Power imbalances between genders have been noted to affect women's ability to meet stated fertility desires. Little information exists on what couple communication and decision-making about family planning looks like among Honduran couples in rural areas. METHODS: In 2010...
We examined the effect of a peer-delivered educational intervention, the Malawi Male Motivator intervention, on couples' contraceptive uptake. We based the intervention design on the information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model.
In 2008 we recruited 400 men from Malawi's Mangochi province who reported not using any method of contraception....
After collecting qualitative data from in-depth interviews, focus groups, or field observations, students and researchers often struggle to make sense of it. This step-by-step guide draws on the authors' many years of experience carrying out qualitative research and conducting trainings on the subject. Their book describes how to analyze qualitativ...
To assess the acceptability of a daily pill for prevention of HIV acquisition among 400 Ghanaian women in the oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) clinical trial.
Structured questionnaires were conducted with women enrolled in the trial at enrollment and at each of the 12 monthly follow-up visits. Growth curve analysis was used to examine adher...
One of the concerns raised regarding the introduction of any new HIV-prevention measure, such as PrEP, is the potential for risk disinhibition or sexual risk compensation. The oral tenofovir HIV prevention trial has been the subject of international discussion in this regard.
This article maps the changes in sexual risk behavior among women partici...
Background: HIV+ women are at risk of unintended pregnancy and lack access to family planning (FP) services. FP, however, is not typically offered at HIV care and treatment (CT) centres. This study examined fertility desires and contraceptive needs of HIV+ female CT clients; and assessed clients' and providers' attitudes toward FP/ CT integration....
Background: With an effective HIV vaccine years away, attention has been directed to the development and testing of an oral chemo-prophylactic. For any intervention to be effective it must be acceptable within the target population. This paper describes the experiences of Ghanaian women at high risk for HIV enrolled in a safety and efficacy oral te...
BACKGROUND:: One of the concerns raised regarding the introduction of any new HIV-prevention measure, such as PrEP, is the potential for risk disinhibition or sexual risk compensation. The oral tenofovir HIV prevention trial has been the subject of international discussion in this regard. METHODS:: This article maps the changes in sexual risk behav...
You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE W ORKING WITH DATA COLLECTED through a team effort or in multiple sites can be both challenging and rewarding. The sheer size and complexity of the data set sometimes makes the analy-sis daunting, cbut a large data set m...
If proven effective, vaginal microbicides and diaphragms will likely be part of a larger HIV prevention model that includes condoms and other prevention strategies. It is, therefore, important to understand how introducing new prevention methods may affect overall patterns of sexual risk behavior. Data presented were collected as part of a safety a...
Calls for increased inclusion of men in matters of reproductive health emphasize the need for research into vasectomy acceptability and decision making. Vasectomy is a safe, simple and effective method of contraception, but is underused worldwide.
Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted with potential and actual sterilization...
Evaluations of the safety, effectiveness, and feasibility of HIV prevention interventions rely on self-reported sexual behaviour data. The accuracy of such data has sometimes been questioned. The absence of a so-called objective measure of sexual behaviour complicates this. Social desirability bias (SDB) is a key factor affecting the accuracy of se...
Guidelines for determining nonprobabilistic sample sizes are virtually nonexistent. Purposive samples are the most commonly used form of nonprobabilistic sampling, and their size typically relies on the concept of “saturation,” or the point at which no new information or themes are observed in the data. Although the idea of saturation is helpful at...
Self-reports are widely used for measuring behaviour in HIV research and prevention, yet the accuracy of these measures has been shown to be questionable in many cases. Social desirability bias (SDB) is one of the key factors identified as affecting self-report accuracy.
Using in-depth interviews, we examined SDB from the perspective of 60 women at...
The concept of acceptability involves a complex set of individual, couple and socio-cultural factors. Within a specific focus on microbicides, this article sets forth the relevant behavioral issues demanding attention as scientists and product developers strive to identify microbicides that will be used in a sustained, long-term fashion to prevent...
Qualitative interviews were conducted with 35 men who have sex with men, enrolled in the world's first phase III HIV vaccine efficacy trial at five US sites, regarding their risk reduction counselling experiences and their perceptions of its impact on risk behaviour. Respondents ranged in age from 20 to 58 years and were predominately white (71.4%)...
Debate over how people behave in an open access environment is ongoing in both the social sciences and natural resource management circles. Central to this debate is the question of driving forces behind decisions and behavior toward natural resources within a given area. Using data from an artisanal shrimping community in Ecuador, I demonstrate th...
Qualitative data analysis requires organizing and synthesizing often large quantities
of text. In many cases, this analysis entails negotiating the interplay between raw
data, semantic themes or codes, and the overarching conceptual framework. In this
article, the authors use a case study, which examines HIV vaccine efficacy trial participants’
dis...
Designing interactive computer systems to be efficient and easy to use is important so that people in our society may realize the potential benefits of computer-based tools .... Although modern cognitive psychology contains a wealth of knowledge of human ...
Scholars typically depict traditional ecological knowledge as a vanishing resource, negatively correlated with the capitalization of a community. The default view also tends to conceptualize such knowledge as one cohesive system, unitarily responsive to external forces. Using data from an artisanal shrimping community in Ecuador, this paper argues...
Wealth ranking in given field sites can be problematic for a number of reasons. This article explores the usefulness of Guttman Scaling and AnthroPac software in such contexts, using a small fishing community on the northern coast of Ecuador as an example. The author provides a step-by-step description of procedures for implementing and analyzing G...
Striking a Balance: Improving Stewardship of Marine Areas National Research Council Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1997. 177 pp. The result of a 1993 National Marine Board forum, Striking a Balance is a research report which documents the findings of three in-depth case studies conducted in the US, under the auspices of the National Resear...